Top 10 mistakes made by small business owners on Google Ads

1. Not Defining a Clear Goal

Before you spend a rupee, you need to ask: What do I want from this ad?
Do you want more website visits, phone calls, form fills, or sales? If your campaign goal isn’t clear, your performance will suffer.

✅ Fix: Choose a specific campaign objective (like “Leads” or “Sales”) before you start building ads.

2. Targeting Broad or Irrelevant Keywords

Using general keywords like “plumber” or “shoes” will make you compete with big brands and irrelevant audiences.

✅ Fix: Use long-tail keywords (e.g., “emergency plumber in Thane” or “affordable leather shoes in Pune”) to reach ready-to-buy users.

3. Ignoring Negative Keywords

Not using negative keywords means your ads might show for unrelated searches (like “free”, “DIY”, or competitor brand names).

✅ Fix: Add negative keywords regularly to avoid wasting your budget on low-quality clicks.

4. Sending Traffic to Your Homepage Instead of a Landing Page

Your homepage is too general. People clicking your ad should land on a page that matches the offer or keyword.

✅ Fix: Create targeted landing pages for each ad group with a clear call-to-action (CTA).

5. Poor Ad Copy That Doesn’t Convert

If your ads are vague, boring, or irrelevant, users will scroll past or click and bounce.

✅ Fix: Write ad copy that is benefit-focused, includes a strong offer, and has a clear CTA like “Book Now” or “Call Today”.

6. Not Using Ad Extensions

Ad extensions (like call buttons, location info, site links) improve your visibility and click-through rate.

✅ Fix: Use all relevant ad extensions, especially call, sitelinks, and location extensions.

7. Setting and Forgetting Your Campaign

Google Ads is not “set it and forget it.” You must monitor and optimize regularly.

✅ Fix: Check performance weekly. Adjust bids, pause underperforming keywords, and test new ad copy.

8. Not Tracking Conversions

If you don’t know which clicks turn into leads or sales, you’re flying blind.

✅ Fix: Set up conversion tracking in Google Ads and Google Analytics. Track form fills, calls, purchases—whatever matters to you.

9. Using Only One Ad Variation

Running just one version of your ad means you’ll never know what works best.

✅ Fix: Test multiple ad variations with different headlines, CTAs, and offers. Let Google optimize for the best performer.

10. Trying to Do It All Yourself Without Experience

Google Ads can be deceptively simple to set up—but hard to master. Many business owners lose money trying to manage it without expert help.

✅ Fix: Work with a trusted digital marketing agency like Shree Digital Marketing to get professional strategy, setup, and optimization.